


Sincerity

by NocturnaIV



Series: A path to an answer [3]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben falling in love with Sea Three, Descendants 2, F/M, Falling In Love, Love at First Sight, Polyamory, Sea Three (Disney: Descendants), True Love, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:13:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26206213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NocturnaIV/pseuds/NocturnaIV
Summary: The spell Uma used on him included a word that changed everything for Ben.Beloved. And the spell had worked.Beloved. And Ben couldn't stop thinking about it.But despite all their efforts, their plan hadn't worked. The barrier was still standing. The island was still a prison. The only consolation Ben could feel was that at least Uma was back with Harry and Gil. Even though that meant he was left on the other side, with hundreds of ideas and alone.
Relationships: Ben/Uma (Disney: Descendants), Gil/Harry Hook/Uma, Gil/Uma (Disney: Descendants), Harry Hook/Uma
Series: A path to an answer [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1795102
Comments: 6
Kudos: 53





	Sincerity

**Author's Note:**

> My first language is Spanish, but I hope you can enjoy this story. I apologize if some parts are misspelled.

“Majesty?”

Ben raised his hand to silence the guard.

“Thanks for everything.” He observed the exact spot where Uma had cast a spell on him. “But I need to be alone.”

The tide was rising.

_‘On a piece of decade-old parchment write down the name of the beloved.” Ben remembered ‘Sprinkle with sand from a beach and love tide. And submerge in water, reciting these words: Make his love as deep as the ocean. May he see all the wonder I possess and celebrate it in every minute. With every sunrise and sunset.’_

The spell had definitely worked. It wasn’t a love potion playing with his mind. That had been a spell to see what already existed there. Uma had been able to use the same trick as Mal but she didn't.

The spell worked. And that meant that every ingredient and every step had been done exactly. Including the beginning. _The name of the beloved_. Uma wrote his name. And it worked.

He looked at the island and wondered how they were doing. Harry and Gil would surely be with Uma at that moment. After all the chaos that had occurred, maybe Gil would have to lead momentarily. Ben suspected that when it came to emotions, Gil was in control. Even someone like Uma needed someone to be sweet and loving to her. Ben wondered what Harry was doing. Would he join Uma’s frustration or offer himself as the target of all her frustration to help her?

What would they think of him? Harry and Gil surely saw everything on television. Including _that_.

Ben touched his lips.

 _That_ had been different.

Was this what the famous kiss of true love felt like? How if someone ripped out your heart just to lock it up? Did love always mean destroying everything around you? Or was he cursed? Each person at his side ended up suffering.

He and Audrey had never been meant to be together. But she had been the closest thing to a best friend. And Mal made him humiliate his best friend in front of everyone. But Ben never apologized. The guilt had been so massive that he always pushed his apologies for a _better time._ But Audrey deserved an apology. A sincere one. But Ben was naive back then. Mal had told him, she had warned him. Mal didn’t know what love felt like. Ben, with the residue of the love potion, had believed that it was possible to _teach_ her about love. About loving him _._ He had been naive. Ben had been attracted to Mal from the start, that was beyond question. And maybe not just her. But the love potion had created confusion on his mind and even when he had freed himself, his mind was still perplexed. Mal had wanted to belong to Auradon, to be good, and to have a chance. Ben now realized how twisted everything had been. Mal never apologized to him for using a love potion. And then she kept casting spells on him to keep up the charade. Forgetting spells. Magic to make him believe that she was perfect. And also, Ben hadn’t realized it, but he had been in the privileged position of the relationship, and on more than one occasion Mal must have felt that their relationship was one of the pillars that ensured that she and her friends belonged in Auradon. They reached the breaking point. After everything that had happened, Ben remembered that Mal never wanted to leave the island, she had been forced to leave. And even outside, she didn’t resent her life on the island. Eventually, she would want to go back. And even when Mal returned, things continued to be different between them. No more spells and illusions. No more trips across the kingdoms, audience, and press. Just him and Mal. And they weren’t enough.

That had been a Cotillion everyone would remember. One where their king attended to his engagement party with another girl, notoriously spellbound. And his current girlfriend, who was loved by everyone because she acted like another catalog princess, had tried to break the spell with a kiss. Without working. All broadcast on television.

Which made Mal and Ben suddenly must admit that what they felt wasn’t love. They finally felt liberated.

‘ _You need to know. I used the love potion because I needed the wand. If I fell in love, it was because of how you made me feel when you were in love with me.’_

Ben wondered if he fell in love with the idea that he had finally found his fairy tale. His mother had found the prince in the beast. And he naively believed that he had found the girl in the villain.

Ben tried to lower the barrier, but neither the Fairy Godmother nor anyone else supported him. Uma tried to steal the wand, without success. Ben tried to explain what was happening to everyone but was discarded for being under a spell. His current ex-girlfriend fought his date. And everything got out of control. Most people didn’t even know who to support. Especially when Uma announced all the cruel acts of Mal on the island. Twisted attitudes even against her own friends. And that only made others remember Mal’s cruel actions where she never apologized to them. That moved everyone’s mood.

That Cotillion turned into a moment of mistrust that luckily wasn’t towards all the VK, but towards Mal. Evie, Carlos, and Jay had proven that they weren’t bad people, that they deserved a chance, and that they weren’t like their parents. Ben was grateful for the effort they had put in so that no one would generalize their attack just because they suddenly realized that Mal wasn’t the catalog princess they wanted. That she wasn't like Audrey.

But still, no one was willing to lower the barrier. Especially Fairy Godmother.

And during that chaos, Uma ran to him and kissed him. Like a farewell. Like a message that said, ‘We _tried and failed’_. Like liquid fury and cold resignation. A three-steps kiss: impact, goodbye, and retreat.

And that kiss took him out of the spell that he had willingly accepted. A true love kiss that always works.

All of them fell silent as he whispered Uma’s name. She nodded and broke away. Ben ran to her so she wouldn’t leave. But Uma had everyone’s attention on her and knew exactly what to do to tattoo her message on the soul of each one of them.

‘ _If you aren’t going to be the heroes of my people, I will. Even if I have to give up my freedom.’_

Uma disappeared into the sea. And no one dared to say a single word. The camera stopped recording everything. They returned to the port. Mal approached him and only asked one thing: If Uma had told him that she would use a spell on him. When Ben nodded, she seemed to have expected that answer.

‘ _From the beginning, I lied to you. But from the start, she was honest with you.’_

Maybe he would never get an apology from Mal. And maybe she would never see all the bad things she had done in the past or present. But still Ben was grateful that they both admitted that it was all over between them. And he apologized to her. For all. For not seeing the pressure Mal had. For not having realized that she was suffering. For rushing things between them. For not realizing that what he considered normal was not normal for her.

Mal left. Evie and Carlos just stood there, looking around in confusion. Jay seemed conflicted, wanting to go along with Mal but also take care of Evie and Carlos. Ben told them to rest, to go to _their_ beds, to take their time.

‘ _Aren’t you going to return us to the island?_ ’Evie had asked.

They also believed that their place in Auradon could vary if Mal wasn’t with them. Ben reminded Evie of the conversation they had the day before. He would never leave her behind. Ben would never return her to the island. Instead, he reminded her that they should reactivate the program and bring in more VK who wanted to go to Auradon. Ben had to reassure Carlos that he wouldn’t have to see his mother again, that he belonged where he wanted to be. And if Carlos wanted his dog’s speech spell removed, that could be arranged too. With Jay, it was more difficult. Auradon had taught Jay to work as a team and to be loyal. And now he didn’t know where his loyalty lay, if to the Mal he remembered, to his friends now, to his life in Auradon, or if Mal’s accumulation of mistakes meant he had to turn his back on her. Jay didn’t know whether to stay or go with Mal. Ben reminded him that he didn’t have to choose. No one was asking him to do it.

Eventually, Ben was left alone.

Now, what was he supposed to do?

Within a year he had ended his relationship with Audrey, who was his best friend. He had agreed to pursue a relationship with someone who had cast a spell on him. Ben had planned to marry someone who couldn’t even be herself to him. And in the last 48 hours, he had stopped believing in everything Auradon had taught him about love. Ben had found his heart capable of feeling too much. Love, affection, and attraction. Everything in different doses and towards different people.

 _Beloved._ And she had written his name. And the spell had worked.

And it was her kiss, quick and melancholic, that broke the spell.

When he met Mal, he had been drawn to her. Ben had found himself thinking about her clever responses and cunning attitude. In her ingenious reactions. A part of him had screamed ‘ _Take note, boy. This is what you want’._ The strong girl. But as he got to know her, it turned out that Mal hadn’t been all that. The sharp wit died down. The cunning turned out to be a defense mechanism. Her intelligence was of a fighter, but not of a leader. But Mal turned out to be clumsy and naive in many ways, sweet and eager for acceptance and recognition. Things he learned to love and take care of.

But that wasn’t the real Mal.

And while it was entertaining that everyone paid attention to Mal and he could take a breather from his duties as king, Ben was also not someone who could put everything aside for love.

Uma had been right. They were leaders, not normal people. Uma was sincere and powerful. She was touched by the softness, but she was a predator.

When he saw her, he felt what he had always read, what everybody expected him to feel. What he didn’t feel with Audrey or Mal: _Love at first sight._

The universe bowed to Uma and so did he.

And Ben felt chills thinking of Harry and Gil. Since he started dating Mal, Ben had lost Audrey and Chad, his best friends. Mal’s friends became his friends. And his friends became more friends with Mal. She had that charm. Ben had been thinking about it a lot lately: He was alone. And every time he thought about that he remembered Gil and Harry. The way they interacted with each other. Now he was thinking of Gil’s smile. Ben was remembering Harry’s comments. And he felt chills. Harry and Gil were also sincere.

Now he valued sincerity as liquid ambrosia.

Although Ben didn’t want to admit it, he had wondered if Harry and Gil would accept him.

But they were on the island and he couldn’t order to get Harry and Gil out of there just because he kept thinking about them.

Ben was a leader rather than a lonely king.

At least Uma was back with her boys and her crew. He knew that the Council wouldn’t hear him about lower the barrier. And that night, Ben realized that the Fairy Godmother had too much independence. She had said she served the crown. But now Ben knew that if he went and ordered her, as her king, to lower the barrier, she would say no. And only her wand could save those people. The Fairy Godmother didn’t consider the descendants on the island part of Auradon. That night Ben had found out how the Fairy Godmother had threatened the VK to return them to the island if they had misbehaved. Something she would never say to the AK.

Many things had to change.

“Ben...”

He got up when he heard her voice. There wasn’t the same force as always in her tone. Uma reappeared in front of him from the sea. The moon illuminated her figure as the ocean itself retreated like a sheet. Uma was no longer wearing her dress. She had her skirt again made of hundreds of pieces of leather painted in turquoise, blue and white. Now she had a blouse of the same color, like a net formed of gold and shells polish. Her hair was once again braided. In an intense turquoise color.

Ben advanced to her, nearly tripping in the sand. He wanted to hug her, tell her about the spell, about the kiss, about everything he thought the first time he saw her. But Uma was furious, and he had to stop.

“I can’t go back.” She looked towards the island. “I thought the barrier was to keep us inside, not so that we couldn’t go back.”

“...I will give you one of the devices that partially open the barrier.”

Although he didn’t want to, his voice hinted at his pain. Of course, she would want to go back. And Ben was his only ally on that side of the world. That’s why Uma...

“I’m upset.” Uma admitted “When I couldn’t get in, I was enraged. As the one responsible for your kidnapping on the island, I couldn’t return freely here either. I don’t like feeling my options are limited. But it’s not fair with you either.” She caressed his chin “I have the terrible defect of venting my anger to others. But I’m working on it.”

Uma admitted her mistake. And she was apologizing in her own way. No tricks, no cheating, no lies. Ben leaned down and buried his face in her hand. He took a deep breath. _Sea._ He had missed her so much. Her voice, her personality, her presence. Ben had missed her closeness.

“This has been a tough day for you, right?” Uma commented out loud.

“For you too... I’m sorry things didn’t turn out the way you wanted.” Ben looked at her and kissed the palm of her hand.

“Are you kidding?” Uma laughed softly and grinned, “Mal is no longer the future queen of Auradon. The fate of _my people_ isno longer in her hands. Now I don’t feel like time is running out.” She looked around. “And yes, I admit it. I’m pleased to know that this is no longer her territory.” Uma looked at him and slid her index finger over his chest, going down his abdomen too fast “Right…?”

On her ship, Uma had seen him as an object. Stolen goods. And Ben had wanted to be considered as _someone._ Well, his wish had been granted. She was looking at him as someone and pretending that he was _something._ And it felt good. Never before had someone looked at him that way. As if they were capable of everything from fighting a dragon, challenging a god, setting the world on fire, and breaking reality for him.

Instead of responding eloquently, he found himself making that sound that could be interpreted as anything and freed him from everything. That sound that put him in Uma’s hands. Ben wanted her to choose whether he was a new territory, a hostage, a candidate to be in her presence, or something else. Uma smirked and reached for him.

But Ben noticed Uma’s eyes. She had them swollen. He cupped her face, concerned.

“Do you miss them?” Ben stroked his thumbs over her cheekbones and noted the reddish marks under her eyes “I can take you with them now.”

Uma was surprised and then bit back a wistful laugh.

“Do you want me to answer, sweet thing?”

“Please... If I can do something...”

“I miss them. I’m not ready to talk about every feeling I went through when I couldn’t go back to the island and I thought I would be left alone. I don’t want to talk about the courage it took me to appear in front of you.” Uma replied sincerely “But I’m not ready to go back either. I let them down.”

“Of course not.” Ben released her and stared at her with determination. “You went further than anyone. And you haven’t lost yet. I still want to be part of your solution.”

Uma raised her hands, it looked like she was going to cover her face and then rolled her eyes. Instead, she covered his face and he laughed not understanding what was going on.

“Do you want to be part of my solution?” Uma repeated.

“Well, I can tell that you are a resourceful pirate.” He managed to say despite having Uma’s hands on his face.

Uma pulled him by his shirt but didn’t kiss him. She sucked on his lower lip and playfully tugged on it. Ben gasped and wanted to kiss her. But he knew that she was in control, that he should wait for that honor.

“Are you sure? You must accept Harry and Gil.” Uma warned him, drawing the line between them.

The dotted line of a fairly clear contract.

“I do,” Ben answered without hesitation.

Uma narrowed her eyes and tilted her face.

“And do you want to be with just me or do you accept my boys in this?” Uma softened her gaze, to make it clear that there were no tricks “Don’t force yourself and be honest, sweet thing. This isn’t a condition. I just want to know your limits.”

Ben wanted to tell her that he didn’t really know what kind of limits he had but wanted to find out with her.

“Actually, I don’t think they accept me. Well, Harry. He was very willing to throw me into the shark-infested sea.” He smiled resignedly.

“Oh... He didn’t like you because you were with Mal. And we don’t like her.” Uma shrugged “But I know he’s extremely interested. You awaken something wicked in him… And… _Oh, Gods,_ you like that.” Uma chuckled “I understand the feeling.”

“Mine to him or his to me?” Ben whispered feeling ringing in his ears.

Uma bit the air and shrugged.

“Both of them.” She looked towards the island “I want to go back to them with a plan. That is the least they deserve. But I don’t want them to believe that I abandoned them.”

“Stay. I’ll go and tell them the whole truth.” Ben responded quickly, almost tripping over his words “If you want, I’ll go. If you want, stay. If you want...”

“If I want…?” Uma looked at him deeply.

He was gazing long into the abyss and the abyss was also gazing into him.

“If you want, stay with me,” Ben confessed.

Uma took his face.

“How can I say no to one of my boys, sweet thing?” She hooked her finger on the edge of his pants and dragged him back to the castle, onto his private balcony. “Come on, you’ve had a long few days. Let me take care of you. Tomorrow you have another busy day.”

“And you?” Ben asked immediately.

Uma looked at him over her shoulder. She smiled cunningly.

“Taking care of you is being in control and it’s exactly what I need now. I need it.” She clarified.

Ben found himself nodding strongly.

‘ _Tak_ e _note, Uma is exactly what you want._ ’

**Author's Note:**

> If you like what I do and want to support me, how about you [buy me a coffee](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/NocturnaIV)?


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